My Books

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Today I am pleased to present to you all the fortieth in a series of Author Interviews. Recently I sat down with the wind-swept, gardening, North-Westerner, Patricia Vaccarino, and our conversation went something like this:

Paul: I like to start my interviews by asking if you have any
writing rituals?

Patricia: I have worked as a professional writer for so
long and have to hit deadlines whether I feel like it or not, so I don’t really
have any rituals. On any project, whether it’s an article or a book, I find
that I am constantly scribbling notes, so when I turn on the computer, I
already have a starting point, and I’m never facing a blank page.

Paul: What types of books
do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Why?

Patricia: I read constantly, both fiction and non-fiction,
and usually have four or five books going at the same time. I have many favorite authors, so it is hard to
only name a few, but here are three books that have made an impact on my life. As
a child I was most influenced by W.H. Hudson who wrote “Green Mansions.” I
think I fancied myself being able to live in the Amazon forest like Rima the
beautiful bird woman. As a teenager, I was deeply moved by Victor Frankl’s
rendition of surviving life in a concentration camp in his landmark book "Man’s
Search for Meaning." I think Frankl’s
book gets at the heart of existential pain and how human beings have an
infinite capacity to rise to a higher level that surpasses our limitations of
what it means to be “human.” Later as a young woman, I was riveted by Morris
West’s “The World is Made of Glass,” which tells the tale of Magda, a brilliant
and accomplished women, who also happens to be a sociopath and in her youth
murdered her best friend. She knows something is missing in her life and
enlists the help of psychoanalyst Carl Jung to help her to develop a conscience.
This tale is full of drama, sex and
violence, and yet Morris West delivers the concept of the power of redemption with the mastery of Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky or
Zola. Morris West, who also wrote “The Shoes of a Fisherman,” is one of the
most profound writers of the 20th century, and I feel that his work
is largely undiscovered.

Paul: If someone had the
power to step into your creative mind what would they see?

Patricia: When I was a child, I thought my mind was
like the ocean. Vast and infinite in possibilities, my mind is calm and
tranquil, or stormy: full of passion and capable of violent intensity. My mind
is shimmering in the sun, forming rainbows through filtered light, or cold grey
during the short days of winter. My mind is in a state of constant motion,
making waves large and small and always favoring a distinct tidal pattern that
is in harmony with the moon and commands power over the earth.

Paul: What is a typical day
for you?

Patricia: I start my work at 6am. If my workload is
heavy, then I start my day about 5am. Many of my clients are on the east coast
and I generally have calls scheduled as early as 6:30am. I have administrative
work scheduled on my calendar for the entire year and add new projects for
clients as they come up. Every day I write press materials, media pitches,
blogs and posts to social media — this is the bulk of my work for clients. I
spend a lot of time on the phone pitching press, talking to clients and
managing my staff. Mid morning, every day, I take a ballet or Pilates class. I
work every day until 6pm or 7pm.

Paul: Do you have a
favorite character in each of your series, aside from the lead? If so, which
one and why?

Patricia: In One
Small Murder, I have a special place in my heart for Babe O’Reilly, the
priest in a wheelchair, who ministers to the homeless from her ministry in the
Pike Street Market. Babe has been hurt badly in life and yet she has amazing
compassion for humanity. I especially like the fact that she recognizes Liliana
Sorrento as someone who has the courage to
do things that other people cannot do.

Paul: In all the years
you’ve been publishing your work, what is the biggest mistake you made that you
could share so others can avoid making it?

Patricia: My biggest mistake was spending any time at
all dealing with literary agents. Over the years, I have had two agents and
found they did little to get my books placed with publishers. I am delighted
that the paradigm shift that has taken place in the publishing world has cut
out the need for literary agents, and for that matter, traditional publishers. I
think there is a renaissance in publishing. Anyone who wants to publish can do
so without having to deal with gatekeepers such as agents and traditional publishers.
The downside is that authors must do more promotion than ever to break through
the clutter.

Paul: How do you find the time to write?

Patricia: I work seven days a week. I don’t find the time to write. I make
the time to write. I write at the expense of doing other things that might be
enjoyable. I can’t remember the last time I had Sunday brunch in a restaurant. I
rarely go to movies unless there is something exceptional to see. I don’t have
any other hobbies except for dance, gardening and cooking, and I write about
all three of those things or incorporate those subjects into my writing. I
don’t feel that I am sacrificing my potential enjoyment of other hobbies or
pursuits. Writing is my passion and I am focused on this pursuit. It is not
uncommon for me to turn out 10,000 words a week. This isn’t necessarily
creative writing. Some of it is business writing for clients. The last article
I wrote was called the “Wide World of Annuities.” I fit in my creative writing whenever I have
an open slot during the day or on the weekend. I am constantly keeping notes in
word documents. For example, I recently learned that the smoke shop in the Pike
Street Market no longer carries Gitane cigarettes,
which is what my main character “Liliana Sorrento” smoked in One Small Murder. She can’t get Gitane cigarettes in NYC either, so in
the next book Two Dead Blondes, she decides to quit smoking rather than to
smoke an inferior brand of cigarettes.

Paul: What is one thing you hope I do not tell the readers?

Patricia: It doesn’t matter what I say or what you say about me. At the
end of the day, what matters most is what I have written. The words speak for
me.

Paul: Do
you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Patricia: Writing
fiction is more challenging than writing non-fiction because I am creating a
whole world that is not rooted in reality but must appear as though it is
reality. The fact checking must be accurate in order to create a world that
appears to be realistic. So I do both - I run with the ideas because they are
the greatest source of strength in the creation of a story, but I also take the
time to organize, plot and work with the structure of the book.

Paul: Do
you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is
more fully-formed?

Patricia: I’ve
been writing for the sheer love of it since I was a little kid. In grade school
I was pulled aside by a nun who asked me, “Did you really write that or did you
copy it from somewhere?” I remember
another teacher, Mrs. Chachkes, who also pulled me aside in the 4th
grade but in this case it was to mentor me. She thought I had writing talent
and she worked with me privately to develop it. I also remember a woman named
Doris who was in my freshman college creative writing course. I always imagine that
Doris-in-my-creative writing-class was actually Doris Lessing. Doris told me I had the writer’s radar. She said no
matter what I did in life or what type of career I pursued I had the writer’s radar. The radar is a fine
honed intuition that enables a writer to have a natural ear for dialogue and
the ability to see all the other minute details in the world that other people
do not see. Having this radar is
what guides a writer to go beneath the surface and to find certain truths about
the world that are not always readily apparent. I mention my early brushes with
being told that I had talent because it is important to note that having
writing talent is never enough. It is the time spent, day in and day out, that
hones this talent. Writing becomes more fully-formed over time when writers put
in the hard work, discipline and devotion to develop their craft. Writers who
have worked hard to develop their craft know instinctively when a work is
finished and when it is time to turn it over to a trusted editor.

Paul: Do
you have to do much research for your stories?

Patricia: There
is always significant research that is required for any piece of writing.

Paul: What is your most
recent book? Tell us a little about it

Patricia: One
Small Murder is the first in a new mystery series. Liliana Sorrento left
New York City and moved to Seattle because her Sicilian Mafioso father would
not make her his successor to the family business, even though she was the
person best-suited for the job. In Seattle, she works as a Press Agent for the
Governor. By night, she satiates her very Sicilian desire for power by engaging
in her hobby as a professional dominatrix, where her client list reads like a who’s who of Seattle’s most prominent
men. Her world is turned upside down when a rogue woman priest seeks her help
to uncover the murders of a wave of young Hispanic boys who were in the
Northwest illegally from Mexico. It soon becomes apparent that the killer may
be one of Liliana’s clients, and that the maelstrom of sex and violence surrounding
the murders leads to the highest echelons of state government, to Mexican drug
cartels, and to connections all the way back to Liliana’s father in New York
City. This tale is as gritty and relentless as the hard-driving Seattle rain
and reveals the seamy, dark underside of this wholesome young city in a way
that has never been shown before.

Meet Liliana Sorrento, who was raised
with the instincts of an excellent business person and can kill as easily as
she can save someone’s life. Although she is a natural born killer, she has a
special place in her heart for the young, the honest, and the innocent. Meet
Babe O’Reilly, a woman Episcopal Priest who is confined to a wheelchair and, from
her chapel in the Pike Place Market, ministers to the hardcore homeless on the
streets of Seattle. Babe swears like a truck driver and chain smokes
hand-rolled cigarettes down to the nub, all the while maintaining the purity of
a living Saint for our troubled times. Meet Attorney Henry Mancuso, a Calabrese Jew, who has a photographic
memory, the finest legal mind in the state, and grows to become Liliana’s Consigliori. Meet Special Agent Lou
Panek, who claims to be with the FBI, but disappears into the shadows whenever
other law enforcement officials arrive on the scene. Together, these characters
go down the road and live far beyond the tale of One Small Murder.

Paul: What inspired you to
write this book?

Patricia: I had heard that Mario Puzo, author of the
Godfather, modeled the character of Don Vito Corleone after his mother. I
thought it would be wonderful to create a female heroine like Liliana Sorrento,
who just happened to be a mafia don. I also thought it would be wonderful to
create a character who is not bound by the usual conventions because she
recognizes that quite often rules are made to benefit those who are in power
and are inherently flawed or unfair to those who are not in power. Liliana has
her own code of honor and abides to a highly developed sense of morality of her
own making.

Paul: Do
you also write any poetry, non-fiction or short stories?

Patricia: I
wrote tons of poetry until my mid-twenties when I used to participate in the
Castiglia writing poetry readings led by Professor Nelson Bentley at the
University of Washington. The readings were always held in Kane Hall every
Wednesday night and afterward everyone got together with Nelsen Bentley to eat
pizza and drink beer. Through the years, a few of my poems were published in
publications that no longer exist. Although I frequently write articles and
long blog posts, I am not a fan of short stories and prefer reveling in the
longer forms of both fiction and non-fiction.

Paul: Do
you have any pieces of work that will never see the light of day?

Patricia: I
have six feature film screenplays, two stage plays, and two novels that will
never see the light of day.

Paul: Do
you enter competitions? Are there any you could recommend?

Patricia: I
am not a fan of competitions and see them as money-making vehicles for
organizations or individuals, which is why authors have to pay a fee to submit
their work. I have entered my clients’ books into competitions because they
wanted to have the accolades to get speaking engagements.

Paul: How
much marketing do you do for your published works or for your ‘brand’?

Patricia: Marketing,
PR and promotion is my day job. It is what I do for my clients. There are many
ways to develop a strategy to promote one’s work, but the key is to keep in
mind that brand building is a slow process. Brand building might seem like it
is easy and as if it is a rapid-fire process because of the speed and instant
nature of social media, but it takes a minimum of five years to build a brand. Authors
need to keep in mind that brand building must be sustained over the long haul. I
use my expertise to promote my writing, but I am also aware that brand building
takes years of focus, hard work and discipline.

Patricia: Funnily
enough, what surprises me the most is whenever I write non-fiction, some people
think I made stuff up, and whenever I write fiction, some people think what I
have written is true.

Paul: What
do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have any hobbies or party tricks?

Patricia: I
have a wonderful husband who reads everything that I write. I have three
children who never read anything that I write. I love to build my business. And
I love to cook, dance and garden, and take long walks even when it is raining
and the wind is howling.

Paul: That was wonderful, Patricia. I wish you every success for the future.

About Patricia Vaccarino: Patricia Vaccarino is a working class kid from Yonkers, New York. After college, she traveled the country in a battered Chevy Impala to “See America” and landed in Seattle with only $300. She worked as a paralegal, and later went to law school. Her interest in law was rooted in her love for writing, so she began writing professionally--articles, copy, scripts, press releases, and was asked by Kaye Smith Productions (founded by businessman Lester Smith and Hollywood celebrity Danny Kaye), to do their Public Relations outreach—that was her start in PR. Later, she worked in PR across sectors, from government service to startup companies. After she established her own PR business, Xanthus Communications LLC, she launched a second entity PR for People® to serve people who need PR to build their professional brands. In her spare time, she writes books and articles, trains in ballet and enjoys gardening and cooking authentic Italian food.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all my readers a very Merry Christmas. I am currently enjoying a short relaxing Christmas vacation with my parents in England and also spending time with my children.

Amazon Top 100 bestseller in two categories during 1st week of release in April 2011!
(Please click picture)

"Clear, concise and valuable Project Management advice for the price of a beer (Two if you want the paperback)!"

CONTENTS:
1. Concepts / A brief introduction to Project Management
2. Who's Who? - Know the project players
3. Risks Management - Ignore this at your own peril
4. Chess Playing - You don't get to be the king or the queen
5. Project Lifecycle - From dawn 'til dusk
6. Communications & Reporting - Too little or too much?
7. How to become an accomplished PM - Taking control of the ingredients
8. Tips & Tricks - You have to have a tips & tricks chapter!
9. In Conclusion
Appendix: Real life examples

6. Communications & Reporting - Too little or too much?

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” (Anthony Robbins)

...(an excerpt)

Keeping people excited

Another major reason for communications is ‘keeping people excited!’ What has this to do with running a project you ask? Well, quite simply, excited people get things done quicker and with fewer problems. If you have an excited project team, your project will have a much greater chance of being successful.

How do we keep people excited? It’s not actually that difficult. Focus on the things that are going well with the project, not the day to day issues you have. Hopefully if you are running your project well, the issues are getting resolved (by the right people) in the background. So don’t dwell on them, this will only highlight the challenges you are facing in certain areas. If you are holding a regular status meeting involving stakeholders and other key project members, concentrate on the project successes. You want to keep everyone positive about the progress of the project to date and also discuss the upcoming milestones the project will be meeting. Of course, reserve some time to go over major issues if you need to, but try not to let this part of the meeting bring down the rest of the discussion. Discussing issues in detail during a project status meeting can lead to team fractures, disinterest by some, and even open up personal conflicts between certain team members as they try to play the CYA game (Please refer to the earlier chapter on Risks and Issues).

Wow! I am probably advocating a completely different kind of status meeting than you are currently having. But stop and think about it for a moment. Think back to a recent project and its status (or weekly team) meetings. Was there always someone who was negative and wanted to discuss the problems? Was there always a group of people who were worried about getting to the next milestone? You know what I mean, and I’m sure your answer was yes. But what if you could change your meetings such that you were primarily talking about achievements and upcoming milestones you were going to hit? And what if you could dilute those naysayers and move their conversations outside of the status meeting to a more one on one setting? This is what I mean by keeping people excited. There is a time and a place to discuss issues. That time and place is not always during the regularly scheduled status meeting, especially if that’s the only regular meeting that certain people attend. Their lasting impression of the project will be one of problems and despair, when in reality you were successful as a project manager and delivered to the key stakeholders and sponsors as requested...

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Are you looking for a great little stocking-stuffer? Then you've come to the right place!

Title: How To Write & Self-Publish Your First Novel
Genre: Self-Help
Price: $3.99
Available From: All the usual places

INTRODUCTION
Writing and publishing your first novel is tough. It usually takes a long time. Years for most people. It can be soul destroying too. You finally complete your manuscript; you send off samples to agents and publishers, and anxiously watch the mail for the responses. Then they come in, one at a time, rejection after rejection.

How do I know this? I’ve been there. Does this mean I was a bad writer? No, but I could have used some help in those early days. Sure, I had purchased a few books on writing and I had tried to pay attention to the advice they gave, but there were so many of them and sometimes advice seemed to conflict other advice. It was way too much to take in.

But I persevered with my writing and now I have been writing for several years and I have completed several novels and other books, and my writing is a lot better. My early novels could still do with some major re-editing (which they will be finally getting this summer), but my later works, oh wow I can spot the differences!

So, a few months ago I decided I would go the self-publishing route to getting my books out there in the big world. Things are changing in the book markets and so many people now have Kindles and Nooks and iPads and other electronic book readers. I thought to myself, why not do it myself? I know I can write; I have that confidence. Enough complete strangers have told me they like what I write, so why shouldn’t I join that list of published authors? And why should I have to wait for some agent or publisher to take a chance on an unknown author before I get published? So I did it, and now I have the story to tell and the method you can use to generate your own success.

This ebook is a series of essays solely concerned with improving your writing skills and getting your first novel successfully self-published. It is written in a way that you can keep dipping into it, and keep coming back to parts of it, time and time again. It is concise and to the point and it is written from experience; thousands of hours of experience. Every essay in this book is relevant and has a purpose. Every essay will give you pause for thought.

Can I turn you into a bestselling author? No – only you can do that. But I can set you on a path to success. I can give you clear guidelines about what not to do, and how to do things better. And I can tell you exactly how to self-publish that novel. This ebook takes your novel from the beginning and leads you along a path of self-discovery. When you have finished reading you will be Writing for Success and be someone who has a better chance than most every other wannabe author out there of becoming the next Tom Clancy, JK Rowling, Stephen King, or whoever else is your writing hero.

Good luck!

CONTENTS
1. Don't Start the Story at the Beginning
2. Become a Successful Writer in 2,000 Hours
3. Poems and Short Stories
4. Creating a Good Plot
5. How Long Should a First Novel Be?
6. Writing in the First Person
7. Writing in the Third Person
8. Dialog Versus Narrative – Show Versus Tell
9. Writing Your First Novel: Words & Routine
10. Conflict and Its Importance
11. Plot Pace
12. Creating Believable and Well Rounded Characters
13. Writing Dialog – Or ‘He Said, She Said’
14. Creating a Page Turner
15. Letting the Book 'Cook'
16. Self-Editing Your Novel
17. The Process of Pre-Reads
18. Creating a World of Fantasy
19. How to Write & Self-Publish a Novel: The End-To-End Process Checklist
20. Creating a Writing Environment without Interruptions
21. Reading to Write
22. Encouraging All Would Be Authors
23. The Self-Publishing Process - The COMPLETE A-Z Instructions
24. Marketing Your Novel - The Relevance of Social Media, ARCs and Book Bloggers

Saturday, December 22, 2012

EDITOR'S NOTE: I offer all Indie Authors a chance to appear on my blog and receive some free publicity. Most authors embrace the opportunity and provide wonderful, insightful interviews. Others do not seem to want to take the time...

Today I am pleased to present to you all the thirty-ninth in a series of Author Interviews. Recently I sat down with Jackie Kingon, and our incredibly brief conversation went something like this:

Paul: I like to start my interviews by asking if you have any writing rituals?

Jackie: No
rituals but I try to write as early in the morning when my mind is fresh.

Jackie: Get up about 8 AM coffee shower write.
Lunch check email. Family business in the afternoon. Make dinner for my family.
Then read or TV. That is if there are no extra things.

Paul: Do
you have a favorite character in each of your series, aside from the lead? If
so, which one and why?

Jackie: Right now my favorite characters are
Jersey and Trenton. Jersey is a human woman but Trenton is the first human
android. They are married.

Paul: How do you find the time to write?

Jackie: I make time
by ignoring things that can wait.

Paul:
If you are
self-published, what led to you going your own way?

Jackie: I believed that I had something
different to say and that was humor in science fiction.

Paul: Do you plot your stories or do you just get
an idea and run with it?

Jackie: I get an idea and run with it but along the
way I plan some of the outcomes.

Paul: Do
you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is
more fully-formed?

Jackie: I do a lot of editing.

Paul: Do you have to do much research for your
stories?

Jackie: I do some research. The internet helps a
lot.

Paul: What
is your most recent book? Tell us a little about it.

Jackie: Chocolate Chocolate Moons is a
futuristic cozy mystery. 287 pound Molly Marbles goes to Neil Armstrong
University on the Moon where her weight drops to 47.6 pounds. Along the way her
favorite candy Chocolate Moons are poisoned. She discovers who did it plus
finds a delicious antidote.

Paul:
What inspired
you to write this book?

Jackie: I always try to watch my weight and love
to eat and cook. I am not overweight five foot tall and 115 pounds but it is a
struggle not to gain. I love science fiction and lived near the Culinary
Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.

About Jackie Kingon: Jackie Kingon is a teacher, writer and artist. She holds a Master’s degree from Columbia University Teachers College in New York City; a Bachelor of Arts from Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she won the outstanding student award.

She has published two articles in The New York Times on autism and learning disabilities and one feature piece about her experiences teaching in an inner city school in the south Bronx.

Her paintings have been exhibited in galleries in Washington DC and New York City including the Dactyl Foundation, Washington Project of the Arts, and the United States Embassy to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium. Three works are part of the Estee Lauder collection. She has been a member of the board of the Empire State Plaza Art Commission in Albany, NY and the board of the Friends of Vassar College art museum.

Her short stories have been published in Flying Island Press-Pieces of Eight, The Fringe Magazine and Static Movement Magazine. Kingon’s story for the blind, entitled “A Rose by Any Other Name,” was recorded by Voice Needs in League, TX.

For fans of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Narnia Chronicles, the first installment in a thrilling epic fantasy series…

Would you wake up in a hot sweat if you lived your night’s dreams as a soldier battling un-earthly creatures, witnessing powerful magic and fighting to save your own life on a daily basis?

English schoolboy Terry West does. Frequently. After digging up some rune coins near a roman road, he has been living in another world inhabited by warlocks, seductresses, priests and prophecy. There Terry is a soldier, Teern Truthbringer, who has been tasked with finding the Xannu - 'he who will lead the people into deliverance.'

If only it wasn’t real; but it is. Very real. When it all began it was even enjoyable, but now Terry’s life is getting very complicated. Somehow he involved his best friend Joe and although it had seemed a good idea at the time, the consequences had been dire. Then there is Susan, the leggy sister of klutzy school-friend Brian. Why does she keep sending him messages?

Terry is struggling to balance the two lives he leads and every day he is losing his grip on reality just a little bit more. He’s been forced to kill enemies; his companion, the magical woman Maria, is scaring him half to death with her abilities; and his parents are on his back about his school work.

How will he balance the two lives he leads, solve two sets of problems, and understand the lessons he receives from both? Only time will tell. But time is something Terry doesn't have too much of, as everything is unfolding in ways he could never have imagined!

“Listen to the teachings of a wise man. You may not understand all he says but you will surely have nourishment for the future. Be positive and plan for success. Failure to plan is to plan for failure. Worry not at what came before but only prepare yourselves for that which is ahead.” (Pika’Al 10:1-5, The Scriptures of Al’Zaneed)

A single kiss can get a girl killed. But what if he's the most irresistible man you've ever met? What would you do?

Watch the New Blood trailer:

If you don't have a flash enabled browser, click HERE to watch trailer

"New Blood reads like season one of an addictive paranormal TV series. The premise takes the power of relationships beyond even the vampire thrill. The characters are fleshed out (except the victims, who are left convincingly dry) and we care enough about our heroine Lucy, to dread her migraines almost as much as she does. Add in a paranoia about the people who are really in power and... well, the temptation is to call it a formula for a long and satisfying series. However, Paul Dorset rises above formulaic prose with writing so compelling that only after you catch your breath do you realize the craftsmanship. He tells stories. And as with the best paranormal fiction, the fantasy serves to illustrate some basic truths of the human condition." - G. Tuttle (reviewer)

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Today I am pleased to publish my sixth guest blog post. You too can have a post published on my blog. Just read the guidelines HERE. In the meantime, enjoy...

Book review policy on Amazon . . . what would be best for the
indie author?

By: Clive Eaton

There have been a lot of complaints recently
regarding Amazon’s decision to ax huge swathes of book reviews from their
site. Their reasons behind this haven’t, at times, been wholly transparent. The
rumor mill continues to churn out a variety of different interpretations, and
the only clear fact seems to be that many previous reviews have disappeared
from their site. From a personal perspective, when considering a book on
Amazon, I read reviews with a certain amount of skepticism, as it is very
apparent that many reviews have been written by family and friends. Indeed,
after reading a few books, and returning to the related reviews, I would even
question whether or not some of these people have even read the book in the
first place. As a result, I now only consider reviews where the term
‘verified Amazon purchase’ sits alongside the format description. At least I
know the person has made the purchase (or at least downloaded a free copy) via
Amazon, and is therefore more likely to have read it. Occasionally a person
does make the purchase via Amazon, and places the review on an Amazon page
which does not relate to their purchase – e.g. the purchase is made from Amazon
UK, and the review is written on Amazon US – and perhaps Amazon needs to review
its algorithms so as to identify the reviewer as a genuine purchaser of the
book. I received a review of my book recently where the reader purchased it
from Amazon France, but wrote the review on the UK and US sites. The purchase
therefore justified the term ‘verified Amazon purchase’ alongside the review.

In considering the above, perhaps Amazon
should also consider splitting reviews into two clear groups – those purchased
via their site, and those not. If they did this I feel eventually people will
learn to regard the ‘verified purchase’ reviews as being more indicative of a
book’s quality, whether that quality be good, or bad. Reviews by their very
nature are exceptionally subjective, but to have Amazon full of heavily biased
reviews from family and friends isn’t doing the cause for indie authors any
real favors. I’ve seen no end of indie books with polarized reviews. Some
reviewers wax lyrical, and others place heavy question marks over the books
history in terms of proof reading, editing, use of grammar, formatting etc. It
is therefore little wonder a number of published authors still look down their
noses at indie authors. I’ve read books by both published authors and indie
authors. Some of the books by the latter group are well worthy of publication,
and some from the former group should never have had the ink wasted on good
quality paper – such is the lottery of the publishing world. But this lottery
is no justification for some indie authors publishing their books without even
passing them through a spell-checker before placing them on Amazon, and then
getting a couple of friends to give them a glowing review. I would go as far as
saying I’d support Amazon in only allowing verified purchases to be reviewed on
their site, if it were to help clean up the reviews provided. Of course, some
authors would then reimburse a select few in return for reviews, but at least
this additional cost to the author would significantly limit the hordes of
people who currently write reviews about books they’ve never read. (To prevent
authors overcoming the ‘verified purchased’ barrier with free books, Amazon
could introduce a ‘verified FREE download’ option, with the date of the
download.) If Amazon were to go that far, I believe it would allow the genuine
cream of indie books more of an opportunity to rise to the surface, and tackle
the traditional publishing world head on.

About Clive Eaton: Clive Eaton initially trained as an aircraft engineer in the Royal Air Force and worked on Vulcan bombers for a number of years.

He now works as a freelance international trainer in the area of business improvement, and his work has taken him to over 30 countries around the globe.

The Pyramid Legacy is his debut novel and the inspiration came when Egyptian authorities discovered a secret door inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. Although nothing was actually found on that occasion it triggered a 'what if?' question, and from there the story developed. Clive is now writing the sequel, which will be titled "Operation Stonehenge".

Clive lives in a very peaceful setting, with his wife Judy, in the heart of rural Norfolk, England, which he believes is an amazing place for getting in the right mood for writing.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Today I am pleased to present to you all the thirty-eighth in a series of Author Interviews. Recently I sat down with the secret singer Dave Lacey, and our conversation went something like this:

Paul: I like to start my interviews by asking if you have any writing rituals?

Dave: I like to sit at home, with music on pretty
loud. Usually something without lyrics, maybe some classical, I love the Tron
Legacy soundtrack, or some Cell.

Paul: What
types of books do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Why?

Dave: Hmm, this is tricky. I love thrillers, in
both book and film format. I like Crime Thrillers quite a bit. I’m a big fan
off Conn Iggulden too, he writes Historical Fiction. But I also like Jo Nesbo,
Wilbur Smith, Lee Child and CJ Sansom. I like the way they all write, mostly
with an economy of words yet are totally gripping. I think mostly Conn
Iggulden.

Paul: If
someone had the power to step into your creative mind what would they see?

Dave: Tricky again. It would probably appear quite
messy, with lots of random thoughts and ideas swishing around competing with
each other. I love the way an idea drops in, sometimes born out of something I
am watching or reading, and then starts to walk and gradually run all by
itself. It almost becomes a living breathing thing within minutes. When
writing, it feels sluggish to begin with, then everything just comes out in a
rush, almost a creative orgasm.

Paul: What
is a typical day for you?

Dave: Get up, workout, go to work. I then finish
work, and stay behind to write for an hour or so. Its very peaceful when
everybody has gone home, and is the perfect place to write. Just me, my
thoughts and the sounds of Autumn. Then its home for around seven for tea, and
some TV, before going to bed to read.

Paul: Do
you have a favorite character in each of your series, aside from the lead? If
so, which one and why?

Dave: In the first series (The Auslander Series) it
would probably be Clarence the hired gun. Initially he was going to be a mere
shadow, a figure seen departing a crime scene. But then in his first chapter,
he became something more. He’s delightfully mad really. And then from the next
series (for children) there is a recurring character called Lord Greasby, and
he’s very unpleasant, but makes me laugh at just the thought of him.

Paul: In
all the years you’ve been publishing your work, what is the biggest mistake you
made that you could share so others can avoid making it?

Dave: I’ve not being doing this for too long, but
there is one mistake I made that I wish I had considered before I started. And
that is, not to assume you will just shift books the minute you have published
them. And regardless of how much everybody says it, on websites, twitter feeds,
articles and blogs, you have to get involved in marketing yourself and your
books. It’s tough, but you have to get out in the hard yards. I’m not a salesman,
but fortunately you don’t have to do anything too pushy, just be persistent.

Paul: How
do you find the time to write?

Dave: I
never thought I would say this, but I’ve gotten to the point where I need to
write most of the time. If I don’t, I start to get restless and fidgety. So I
make time, even if its only twenty minutes. Also, I have to set myself a
target. When you begin, a hundred thousand words or more seems like a distant,
but overwhelming dream. But breaking it down into a thousand words a day makes
it much more manageable.

Paul: What
is one thing you hope I do not tell the readers?

Dave: Actually,
I can’t think of a single thing that I wouldn’t want you to tell the readers.
Except for my bank details. I’d rather keep those private.

Paul: If
you are self-published, what led to you going your own way?

Dave: I
am. I sent my first manuscript to one agent and got a no. And me being way too
sensitive, I decided I couldn’t cope, or wait for, a few dozen agents to reply,
probably with a no. So I took the Amazon self publishing route. I am however
going to try to get my children's series published.

Paul: Do
you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Dave: I
plot them, to give me an outline, and provide direction to my end goal. It’s
not prescriptive however, I find the whole thing very organic as I said earlier
with reference to Clarence. Sometimes you totally change where the plot is
going, sometimes you just have good little ideas along the way to add to it.
But I do like the idea of one day just beginning and seeing where it takes me.

Paul: Do
you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is
more fully-formed?

Dave: I
will go through once, before giving to my editor, and try to re-write anything
I don’t like the look of. Then when I get it back from her, I try my best not
to take anything personally, and just get on the with the business of doing the
re-write. I find the whole re-writing process difficult though.

Paul: Do
you have to do much research for your stories?

Dave: As
yet, with the books I have written, I have not had to do extensive amounts of
research. There was a little with The End (book 1 of The Auslander Series), and
a bit more with the children's series (No series title yet, but book 1 is called
The Golden Path). There will be quite a bit more research as that series
develops.

Paul: What
is your most recent book? Tell us a little about it

Dave: Yeah, The Golden Path is my most recent book.
I finished it a couple of months ago, and its currently with my editor. I’ve
just submitted that to the Harper Voyager open submissions period. It’s a
supernatural series with the main characters being teenagers. I really like the
premise, but as I’m sure you know, that doesn’t necessarily translate into
someone else liking it. It’s a big themed idea, and involves some familiar and
some new supernatural beings.

Paul: What
inspired you to write this book?

Dave: I was driving to work one morning and saw a
teenage girl walking along the pavement. She was a big girl with red hair, and
she walked with her head turned away from the road and any passersby, looking
at the floor and not making eye contact. She was trying her best to make
herself as small and unnoticeable as possible. And in my head I just imagined
all the abuse she probably takes, the bullying and such. It was quite
emotional. But it made me think, what if I could make Ange a hero? What if I
could make her terrible life to this point meaningless? And so that’s what I
did with the book.

Paul: Do
you have any pieces of work that will never see the light of day?

Dave: Not
to this date no. I think that’s one of the first things you have to get used to
isn’t it? Writing something, that up until that point is private. While you’re
the only person who knows what it is and where it goes, it’s the greatest idea
in the world. The minute you hand it over, you feel stripped bear, naked. But
once you do get past that, I think it’s easier to hand things around.

Paul: Do
you enter competitions? Are there any you could recommend?

Dave: I
entered the NextBigAuthor.com competition. You submit around 7,000 words, and
the idea is you obtain reading assignments. When you have read other people's
work, you then answer questions based on the assignment. Once you have done so
successfully, you earn a credit which you then use to have your chapters read
by somebody else. The object is to have your book read and reviewed by as many
people as possible, and get into the top ten. If you do that, your work is
critiqued by the top publishing houses. I reached number 18 from around five
thousand pieces of work, before I ran out of time and therefore assignments. It
is essential to keep reading other people's work. But I think this makes it very
good for everyone.

Paul: How
much marketing do you do for your published works or for your ‘brand’?

Dave: I
try to do as much as I can, but it’s hard knowing what to do some of the time.
Opportunities like this are golden, hence the reason I snapped it up. I try not
to ram things down people’s throats on Twitter, as I don’t know how far it gets
you. But there are some great sites out there that will advertise your book for
you when you have a free giveaway coming up. I struggle with the US though, as
I have no reviews from that side of the pond. Reviews are very important. But I
persevere anyway, you never know.

Dave: Re-writes.
It absolutely bores me rigid. It’s terrible I know, but I think once I’ve
written it, I don’t want to see it for a while, let alone go through each and
every last line and make changes. It’s because you’ve lived and breathed for
over half the year, sometimes a lot more, you need some distance. My editor
tells me I should cherish it, it’s my opportunity to make it even better, to
polish and caress it into life. I’m sure she’s right.

Paul: What
do you do when you’re not writing? Do you have any hobbies or party tricks?

Dave: Aha,
I’m glad you asked. In my spare time, I lay down the odd vocal for a friend who
makes music. I read a lot, and watch as many movies as I can. And I play rugby
and golf, although these days less and less due to the time constraints.

Paul: Well thanks, Dave. That was great. I wish you every success for the future.

About Dave Lacey: I was born in Liverpool in 1971. I was a slow starter in terms of reading, and didn't begin to read fiction until my Dad realised I was bored one day. He opened the door to my room, threw me a book (Wilbur Smith's Rage), and I was hooked.
I read everything Wilbur Smith wrote.

Since then, I have drifted from one author to another, but of late have settled into Jo Nesbo and Conn Iggulden, both of whom are fantastic writers.
I like to think that one day I might be included in the same bracket, who knows.
Until then, I will continue to write, another late developing habit of mine.
The End is part one of a trilogy, with part two following middle of 2013.
I am also currently working on a separate series, aimed at the children's market
.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

It's been a very busy few months and none of it has had anything to do with my writing! But now it's time to press on with the final installment in my YA Epic Fantasy series, Xannu. After many years, I will be bringing this story to a conclusion and I am looking forward to having it wrapped up and released. Maybe I'll even release an omnibus edition!

So, in the meantime, it's back to the writing grind (1,500 words a day) for the next few months as I get back into the storyline and see where it all ends up. I'll be posting regular updates as we go. Until then, here's a few paragraphs from the first draft of the opening chapter:

The dawn was still a promised gray on the distant horizon as the large striped B’Wot meandered into the dull clearing and took its place among the others. It nodded to another and licked its lips as if preparing itself for a speech of importance. Then it closed its eyes and waited.

One by one the others arrived, headed from all directions of the compass, until the clearing was full of animals great and small. Finally the B’Wot raised itself onto its haunches and surveyed the gathered assembly. “Brothers and sisters,” it said simply. A pinprick of light cut into the clearing, illuminating the B’Wot. He sighed and continued to speak. “It is well that you have all come. I wish I brought you better news. The Xannu has been taken.” The B’Wot paused while a jumbled mutter spread throughout the animals. “Brothers and sisters,” he repeated, this time a little louder, “we do not have time for this.” The assembled crowd fell silent again. “The prophecies are happening before our very eyes and it is time we must play our part. What say you?”

A prasso stepped forward from under the canopy of trees and whinnied. “How can we be sure?”

The B’Wot raised its glance toward the prasso. “We cannot. There is nothing that predicts the exact timing of this event. But I am sure. As sure as any beast can be.” He stared intently at the prasso. “Tell me you do not have the same feeling.”

“I… I cannot,” the prasso replied, lowering its head briefly. “But what you will suggest to us will be dangerous and will threaten our existence to its very core. We must be sure.”

“If there was any other way,” the B’Wot replied, “then we would take it. But you know the truth. Especially you.”

The prasso looked around the gathering and slowly nodded its head. “Yes. My family has witnessed the strange events in the south. My cousins have told me of the magics loosed upon the forests. Every place is touched in some way.”

The B’Wot took a few steps forward, passing through the prick of daylight, and he let the animals part before him until he was stood near to the prasso. He looked up into the creature’s eyes and let a tear wash over his face. “We must begin.”

I look forward to sharing more of the story as it progresses. If you haven't already read this epic fantasy sage, then head over to my website to read all about it.

Xannu - The Prophecy

Age Group: Young AdultGenre: Epic FantasyPages: 408

For fans of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Narnia Chronicles, the first installment in a thrilling epic fantasy series…

Would you wake up in a hot sweat if you lived your night’s dreams as a soldier battling un-earthly creatures, witnessing powerful magic and fighting to save your own life on a daily basis?

English schoolboy Terry West does. Frequently. After digging up some rune coins near a roman road, he has been living in another world inhabited by warlocks, seductresses, priests and prophecy. There Terry is a soldier, Teern Truthbringer, who has been tasked with finding the Xannu - 'he who will lead the people into deliverance.'

If only it wasn’t real; but it is. Very real. When it all began it was even enjoyable, but now Terry’s life is getting very complicated. Somehow he involved his best friend Joe and although it had seemed a good idea at the time, the consequences had been dire. Then there is Susan, the leggy sister of klutzy school-friend Brian. Why does she keep sending him messages?

Terry is struggling to balance the two lives he leads and every day he is losing his grip on reality just a little bit more. He’s been forced to kill enemies; his companion, the magical woman Maria, is scaring him half to death with her abilities; and his parents are on his back about his school work.

How will he balance the two lives he leads, solve two sets of problems, and understand the lessons he receives from both? Only time will tell. But time is something Terry doesn't have too much of, as everything is unfolding in ways he could never have imagined!

“Listen to the teachings of a wise man. You may not understand all he says but you will surely have nourishment for the future. Be positive and plan for success. Failure to plan is to plan for failure. Worry not at what came before but only prepare yourselves for that which is ahead.” (Pika’Al 10:1-5, The Scriptures of Al’Zaneed)